Razor guard



3 9 319360 A. WINTERKORN 2,639,575

RAZOR GUARD Filed April 25, 1955 Patented May 5, 1936 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE RAZOR GUARD Al e w n rk Co umbus O Application April 23,1935, SerialNo. 17,816

'7 Claims. (01. 30:79,)

This invention relates to guard attachments for razors and among theobjects of. the invention are: to provide a guard for the blades ofstandard razors by which the protecting edges of theguard may beadjusted to assume desired related positions tothe cutting edge of therazor blade and topermit this relationship to be maintained throughoutthe life of the razor blade, despite variations in the form of itscutting edge due to the efiects of honing, stropping and wear; theprovision of a guard which is forced by positive spring pressure towardtheback edge of the razor blade and wherein adjusting screws are pro.vided in connection with the guard to counteract the spring pressure tomaintain the desired counter-relation betweenthe protecting edges of theguard and the cutting edge of the razor blade; in the provision ofarazor guard which will be simple to apply and adjust with respect tothe associated razorblade, and moreover, one which may be convenientlyremoved to avoidinterference with the normal washing or stropping of theassociated blade.

Fo a u the under a d n of e en n, reference is to be had to thefollowing description .and' he acc m a ying drawin ere n:

F s a pe pe v vi w 3a tan a p of;razor provided withthe guard comprisingthe present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the guard .operatively mounted onthe blade of a razor;

Fig. 3 is a transverse verticalsectional view on the line III--III ofFig. '2;

Fig. 4 is a similar view on the plane indicated by the line I VIV ofFig.2;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal and longitudinal sectional view on'the line VV ofFig. 2

Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation of a slightly modified form of myinvention;

Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse sectional view on the line VII-VII ofFig. 6.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral I designates theblade of a standard type straight edge razor, the blade being providedwith the usual handle extension 2 which ispivotally connected as at 3with a handle .4, and it is to a razor of this type that the guard 5,comprising thepresent invention, is adapted to be applied as a safetyappliance to protect the face during shaving operations.

I The guard comprises a metallic casing in which the blade I isreceived,,and in this instance the casing includes side walls 6 and Iarranged adjacent to the sides of the blade I, the wall "Iterminating-at its upper edge in a horizontal top wall -8 with which.are formed hinges 9, providing for relative separation between the walls6 and I to facilitate removal of the casing from the razor blade. Theloweredges II! of the walls6 and I are provided with thickened guardribs II which are-adapted to be so correlated with the cutting edge. Hof the blade I as to prevent the latter from cuttingthe face duringshaving, the ribs I I being substantially fully coextensive with thelength of the edge I2.

Toprevent undue separation of the walls 6 and LT and to. lock the samein holding engagement with. the sides of the blade I, the wall 1 haspivotally connected with one end thereof a latch I3, the latter beingprovided with a horizontal edge I4 arranged to overlie the top wall 8.The edge. I4, in turn, is formed with a depending resilient lip .I5disposed for engagement with the inclined outer surface of a bearing padI6, formed in connection with the medial portion of the wall 6. When thelatch I3 occupies the position disclosed in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, theresilient lip I5frictionally presses upon the inclined outer surface ofthe padIB and thereby holds the walls. 6 and I in firm engagement withthe sides of the razor blade. By lifting the latch I3 and rocking thesameabout its pivotal connection H with the wall 1, the. lip I5 may beraised soas to clear the wall 6', thereby permitting of the readyseparation of the walls 6 and I through the hinge connections 9.

To hold the guard ribs II in proper protecting relationship with thecutting edge I2 of the blade I,.the.b-ack of said blade, contiguous tothe handle extensionZ, is provided with a frictionally mounted clamp I8,from which projects in a forward direction a pair of resilient arms I9.These arms have their outer ends terminated in ball shaped extremities28' which are normally received within sockets .2I provided inconnection with the upper leg I4 of the latch I3. The construction andpositioning of the arms I9 are such as to cause them to exert a downwardforce on the guard as an entirety so that the ribs II will be advancedtoward the cutting edge I2. This action, however, is counteracted orlimited by a pair of adjusting screws .22, the threadedshanksof these.lscrews being-carried by'thetop wall 8 of the guard casing and thetlowerflends. of said shanks are .adapted to engagewith the back. edge23. of the blad'eI. .By reason of the independent adjustment afforded bythe. screws22, the relationship betweenthe ribs I I and the cutting edgeI2 maybe regulated to obtain the desired safety conditions. Adjustmentof thescrewsll will be necessitated fromtimeto time as the cutting edgeof the blade I wears through the effects of use, honing and stropping.

In view of the foregoing, it will be seen that the present inventionprovides an easily applied and readily adjustable safety guard forso-called straight-edge razors. The construction of the guard is suchthat it will not in any way interfere with the normal use of the razorin face shaving operations and when it is desired to clean, strep orhone the razor, it is a simple matter to remove the guard from theblade. When the guard attachment is applied, the latch l3 and itsassociated lip l5 retain the hingedly connected sections of the guardcasing in clamping relationship with the blade I. The resilient arms l9force the guard in a downward direction on the blade so that apredetermined relationship will exist between the ribs I and the cuttingedge l2,'providing for normal use of the razor but preventing injury tothe face. Through the use of the screws 22, very fine adjustments in therelationship of the guard to the edge of the razor is obtainable and atthe same time compensation is provided for the loss in shape of thecutting edge of the razor due to conditions of wear and service.

The invention is of course susceptible to considerable variation inmechanical details without departing from the essential features ofconstruction above described. For instance, as disclosed in Fig. 6, theguard casing 24 is formed from a resilient metal with the side walls 6aand 1a thereof integrally united through the horizontal top wall 8a, thecasing being devoided of the hinges provided in the form of theinvention illustrated in Fig. 1 for permitting separation between thewalls 6 and 1. Thus in Fig. 6, a guard casing is slipped over the backof the blade I from one end of said blade and the walls 6m and laresiliently separated. Also, in Fig. 6, the top wall 8a, is equippedwith a detachable bracket 25, the latter terminating at its lower end ina lip 26, which receives the outer end of a spring 21 carried by a clampl8a. In this form of my invention, the pressure exercised by the outerend of the spring 21 forces the guard casing downwardly on the blade I,in substantially the same manner as the arms l9. Also, in Fig. 6, theguard casing is provided with adjusting screws 22a. for regulating thepositions of the ribs Ila with the cutting edge of the razor blade.

What is claimed is:

1. A razor guard comprising a casing formed to resiliently embrace thesides of a razor blade, the lower edges of said casing being formed withribs disposed in guarding relationship with the cutting edge of therazor blade, a clamp formed to be separately mounted on the back of therazor blade independently of the guard casing, a spring secured at oneend to said clamp and having its outer resilient end arranged to engagewith the guard casing to force the ribs of the latter toward the cuttingedge of the blade, and threaded means carried by said casing andengageable with the back of the razor blade for aligning said ribs inguarding relationship with the cutting edge of the razor blade.

2. Safety appliances for hollow ground razor blades comprising ametallic casing formed to include resiliently separable side wallsarranged to be frictionally received upon the razor blade, said wallsterminating in guarding ribs arranged to lie and extend contiguous tothe cutting edge of the razor blade, spring means detachably carried bythe razor blade separately from the guard casing and cooperative withthe latter to force said ribs toward the cutting edge of the blade, andthreaded means arranged at each end of the guard casing cooperative withthe back of the razor blade to limit the action of said spring means andmaintain said ribs in parallel relationship with the cutting edge ofsaid blade.

3. Safety appliances for hollow ground straight edge razor bladescomprising an inverted U- shaped casing including resiliently separableside walls, the ends of said casing being opened, said side wallsterminating at their lower ends in ribs arranged to extend parallel withand contiguous to the cutting edge of the razor blade, a clampfrictionally received on the back of the razor blade separately fromsaid casing, spring means projecting from said clamp and. cooperativewith said casing to force the latter downwardly upon the razor blade,and adjusting screws arranged at each end of said casing and cooperativewith the back of the razor blade for limiting the operation of saidspring means and regulating the spaced relationship existing betweensaid ribs and the cutting edge of the blade.

4. Safety guard mechanism for straight edge razors comprising a casingcomposed of a pair of hingedly connected sections between which a razorblade is adapted to be positioned, latch means for retaining saidsections in clamping relationship with an associated blade, a springsupport detachably carried by the back of the razor blade separatelyfrom said casing, a spring projecting from said support, said springhaving its free end arranged for engagement with said casing to forcethe latter downwardly upon said blade, and threaded means carried bysaid casing and cooperative with the back of the razor blade to controlthe relationship between the lower longitudinal edges of the casingsections and the cutting edge of said blade.

5. Guard mechanism for straight edge razors comprising a casing composedof hingedly connected sections between which the blade of a razor isadapted to be frictionally received, resilient latch means for retainingsaid sections in embracing relationship with the sides of the razorblade, a spring detachably carried by the back of the razor bladeseparately from said guard casing, the free end of said spring beingdisposed for engagement with said casing to force the latter downwardlyupon. said blade, and threaded adjusting means disposed at the oppositeends of said casing and cooperative with the back of the razor blade invarying the relationship between the lower longitudinal edges of saidguard casing and the cutting edge of said blade.

6. Guard mechanism for a straight edge razor comprising a casing ofinverted U-shaped cross section, the side walls of said casing beingresiliently separable and the ends being open, a clamp separatelysecured to the back of said razor adjacent the handle extension, aspring member secured at one end to said clamp and engaging said casingwith the other end to force said casing toward the sharpened edge ofsaid razor, and adjusting screws carried by the back of said casing andengaging the back of said razor to resist the force of said spring andvary the spacing of the lower edge of the side walls of said casing fromthe sharpened edge of said razor.

7. Guard mechanism for a straight edge razor comprising an invertedU-shaped casing provided with an open end, the side walls of said casingbeing resiliently separable, adjusting means carried by said casing forvarying the spacing of the lower edges of the side walls from thesharpened edge of said razor, a clamp secured to said razor between thecasing and the handle of the razor and a spring carried by said clampand engaging said casing to move the same toward the sharpened edge ofsaid razor, said clamp and said casing being separately removable fromsaid razor.

ALBERT WINTERKORN.

